Growing Microgreens

One of the coolest things about microgreens is that you can grow them year round. In the middle of winter when everything is brown and gray outside and you know most supermarket produce travels more miles than you did on your last vacation, something fresh, alive and packed with nutrients is welcome. If you are new to microgreens and wondering why you might want to grow them, check this post or how to eat them, try this post.

Microgreens are mostly easy and quick to grow (some, like beets, are a little more fussy). You do need light but not special light. A sunny window sill or the light over the sink is just fine. We offer a “grow your own” kit where everything is pre-measured but you don’t need a special kit to grow microgreens.

Here is what you do:

Wet the potting mix (we use a soilless seed germinating mix) with water. You do not need to fill the container all the way to the top, in fact it is better if you don’t. We use 1/3 c water for out kit.

Then mush it together. A lot of germinating mixes don’t absorb water very quickly. You can add water and come back later to find the mix is just floating on the water. You will probably need to stir to get the water incorporated depending on what type of mix you use.

Gently press the wet mix into the bottom of the tray. If water runs out the bottom of the tray you might have added too much but it won’t hurt anything.

Next sprinkle the seeds evenly across the grow mix.

You will use quite a few seeds. They should be evenly spaced and close together but not a solid carpet of seeds with no grow mix showing through. Gently press the seeds into the grow mix to make sure they have contact with the grow mix, but they do not need to be covered.

Spritz the seeds with water.

Put the entire tray in the bag and fold it under the tray. The bag will act as a mini green house. If you are using a different container you could cover it with plastic wrap loosely.

Planting Day 1

You will know you have the right amount of moisture if later you see a little condensation on the bag.

The microgreens do not need light at this point but also don’t need to be kept in the dark. You will soon see germination (for our example we used spicy mix which germinated in 24 hours).

Germination-Day 2

Once your seeds have germinated and sent up a little sprout, they will need light (probably around day 3 or 4).

Day 3

About day 4, you can open the bag and set the tray in the bottom of the bag to act as a tray. You may need to start adding a small amount of water to the bottom of the bag. Let the microgreens soak up the water from the bottom. Get rid of any excess water at the bottom of the bag after about 30 minutes.

Here they are on day 4:

Check on them daily. Leave the bag open at the top. If the container is light weight they probably need water. If the grow mix has dried out and is lighter colored they need water. They will continue to grow and can be harvested at any point from here forward. Of course if you let them grow a few more days you will have more greens.

Day 5

Day 6

Ready to harvest day 7

That’s it! You are ready to harvest and can find instructions here. What else can you grow that is ready to eat in 7 days? This is a great project for kids and adults. If you are interested in our “grow your own” kit, you can contact me at info@foodlifejoy.com. The kit contains everything you need to grow a tray of mild mix and a tray of spicy mix and costs around $10 depending on the shipping.

Hi Loralie,
We have purchased a couple of the microgreen kits from you at the Overland Park farmer’s market. After growing the first batch we accidentally throw away the clear bags that came with the kits. Would you mind telling me what kind of bags they are ( the thickness ) and where I might be able to buy them? Thank you so much!